1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to data storage systems for computer systems. More particularly, the disclosure relates to garbage collection based on the inactivity level of stored data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data storage systems execute many housekeeping operations in the course of their normal operation. For example, garbage collection is frequently performed on memory regions that may contain both valid and invalid data. When such a region is selected for garbage collection, the garbage collection operation copies valid data within the memory region to new location(s) in memory and then erases or frees the entire region, thereby making the region available for future storage of data. However, performing garbage collection involves substantial overhead, such as increased write amplification in cases when solid state memory is used for storing data. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide more efficient garbage collection mechanisms.